Pete Wisdom stood there impatiently, puffing on a smoke as he
waited. His black hair fell into his eyes, the long black trenchcoat he
was wearing matching his typical black suit. "What's taking so long?" he
muttered.
Jackie strode up the hall, her white hair falling around her
shoulders. Her clothes were stylish but formal, the English woman
looking every inch the noblewoman. "Sorry," Jackie smiled slightly, "but
I thought I should dress the part."
Pete smiled wryly, "You do look good." He tilted his head to the
side, "But why...?"
Jackie shrugged, her woman's business suit sleek in the bright
lights of the hallway. "If they don't talk to a former Black Air agent,"
she nodded to him, "they might be intimidated a bit by a hereditary
noblewoman."
"Not bad," Pete nodded.
Kate Pryde walked towards them, Rachel Summers right beside the
older woman. The redhead still looked a bit wobbly from the stun grenade
she had been hit with but she was clearly recovering. Kate kept a
worried eye on her, her posture gently caring.
"They look cute together," Jackie murmured.
"Yeah, they do," Pete agreed quietly. Once Kate reached them he
spoke up, "So how are you doing, Rachel?"
"Feeling stupid about being blind-sided like that," Rachel said
dryly.
Kate's brown hair was pulled back neatly, a bit of gray hair
mixed in. "Where are you headed?" she asked curiously.
"Back to the site," Pete smiled slightly, "I'll use my cellphone
to let you know when we need to be picked up."
"Got it," Kate nodded. The illusion of an older human woman
shifted, revealing the silver metal beneath it as Kate rose up into the
air, light shining from within her. Waves of energy stabilized, forming
a shining portal before them.
"Good luck," Rachel called out as Pete then Jackie disappeared
through the portal.
The facility on the edge of London, England was busy with police
and emergency services, the damaged wall roped off. A light rain fell
down, a police officer looking up with an irritated expression on his
face as they approached. "Hold it," the redheaded young man held up a
hand, "this is a crime scene."
Pete hit him with a look that made the office step back in
surprise. "Pete Wisdom," he held up his identification, "Weird
Happenings Organization and representative of the European X-Men."
"Sir!" The young man looked visibly nervous, both by Pete's
presence and the cold expression on Jackie's face. "How can I help you?"
he managed.
"Who's in charge here?" Jackie asked crisply.
"Inspector Dai Thomas," he said. He smiled at them weakly, "I'll
just go get him, all right?" With that he all but fled.
"Nice," Pete smirked.
"Thank you," Jackie nodded. She gave him a thoughtful look and
asked, "You recognized the Inspector's name?"
"An old associate of Excalibur," Pete said with a wry smile, "as
well as once being a bit of a superhero himself, sort of."
"I remember," Jackie nodded slightly, "he was once a Knight of
Pendragon."
The man who approached them didn't look much like a superhero.
His brown hair was thinning, he was a bit overweight, and his brown suit
and trenchcoat were battered and soiled. Still, meeting his eyes you saw
a spark of capability, the surety of a man very good at his job.
Dai scowled, "So who are you two?"
"Jacqueline Farnsworth Crighton," Jackie met the lightly shorter
man's gaze calmly, "and Pete Wisdom of the European X-Men, Excalibur."
"Thought you weren't officially joining yet," Pete stage
whispered.
"Oh hush," Jackie responded softly.
"So," Dai looked the two of them over as he growled out, "would
you care to give a statement about what the hell your team was doing
here? We caught your earlier appearance on the video surveillance
system."
Jackie had to smile to herself slightly. Dai was clearly
unintinidated by either the secret agent or the noblewoman. If it was
possible he seemed even more irritated towards Pete, but that might have
just been her imagination.
"We responded to the alarm and attempted to stop a group of
superhuman agents," Pete said wryly, "however by better teamwork they
got the best of us and bolted."
"Huh," Dai took notes, looking at Pete suspiciously to ask, "do
you have any idea who these mystery attackers were?"
"Nothing confirmed," Pete shook his head, "but more than a few
were superhumans with criminal records."
"Why do I get the feeling you're holding something back?" Dai
scowled.
"The only thing that we may be holding back," Jackie spoke up
smoothly, "amounts to nothing more than idle speculation." She flashed a
slight smile, "The sort of thing that a police inspector really can't
use."
Dai still didn't look very happy, but he also accepted he wasn't
going to get anything more. "Do you know anything about what was taken?"
he switched tracks.
"Their leader seemed pretty concerned with something she called
Drives," Pete said dryly, "I'm assuming they were computer harddrives."
"Good guess," Dai nodded towards the building, "they claim
valuable data was stolen on those drives, along with biological
samples."
"Endteck," Pete read the sign, trying to recall if he'd heard
the name before.
"Genetics research company specializing in researching the
superhuman genome," Jackie said. Both men looked at her in surprise and
she shrugged, "I invested a while back."
"Think it's related to the attack on Muir Island a few weeks
ago?" Dai asked them pointedly.
"No," Pete shook his head, "I don't think so. The teams that
launched the attacks appear to be different, and the style was rather
different as well."
"They snuck in on Muir Isle," Dai nodded slightly, "this bunched
just blasted their way in." He looked thoughtful, "Ballsy of them,
considering."
"They timed it pretty well," Jackie noted, "they'd probably have
been gone before any police forces arrived. The only reason we got here
fast enough to engage them was because we have a teleporter on the
team."
"So they're both well organized and financed," Dai growled, "if
that fighter jet they used to escape in is any indication." He tucked
his notebook away, "I'm getting back to work. Try not to interfere with
my people while you look around."
"Thanks," Pete nodded as the older man left.
"You two have some history?" Jackie asked as they walked around
to the front door of the building, stepping inside out of the rain.
"Ran into him on an op. in London back when I was in Black Air,"
Pete put his smoke out casually as he continued, "I ended up lying to
him about being a police officer."
"Obviously he remembers," Jackie said as the two walked over to
the frazzled looking young woman sitting at the reception desk.
"Can I help you?" she asked wearily.
"Jacqueline Crighton," Jackie surprised Pete by taking the lead,
"as one of the shareholders I'd like to speak with the president,
please." She gave such a scowl that it would have done even the
irritable Dai Thomas proud as she continued on forcefully, "I was most
displeased to hear about the attack on this facility."
"I'll call him," the receptionist picked up the phone, pressing
the button to connect her to the president's office. "Sir, a Jacqueline
Crighton is here, claiming to be a stockholder...." she stopped
listening. Her face went pale, "Yes, sir!"
"Well?" Pete smiled slightly.
"You can go right in," the receptionist gulped.
Jackie smiled as the two walked down the hallway together. "You
know it's occasionally nice to be wealthy," she said quietly.
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